New Gluten-Free Treats at Green and La Grande Orange

The Almond Poppyseed Cake at La Grande Orange is going on my list of new gluten-free favorites.

Judy Nichols

'Tis the season to check in with old friends, and even thought you're always looking for the newest delectable morsel, sometimes you just want to go where you know everybody's name.

So while I was out and about doing my holiday elf duties, I rolled by a couple of old standbys, where I found not only my favorite things, but some new stuff, too.

At La Grande Orange Pizzeria, picking up my old love, Roasted Corn pizza on a gluten-free crust, I spied in the pastry case, a lovely new little gluten-free Almond Poppyseed Cake. The delicious chewy cake was topped with a dab of sweetness and crunchy almonds.

The individual serving was just the right cup of kindness.

Oh, and grab a gluten-free chocolate walnut cookie for later. When you've wandered many a weary foot, you might need some sustenance.

The new gluten-free macaroni and cheese at Green warms up your chilly holiday evening.

Later, when the temperature dropped to where I needed a jacket and knitted scarf, I pushed through the doors of Green, to get some gluten-free comfort food. I was thinking of a rice bowl with teriyaki mock-chicken, when I noticed the new gluten-free menus, which listed macaroni and cheese.

Most people don't think twice about a bowl of pasta with cheese, or tomato sauce, but for me, it's a small holiday miracle, something to remember.

So as I'm running the year back in my mind, I'll have two new old friends to remember, for auld lang syne.

The gluten-free Sweet Potato Puffs at Green are almost good enough to eat off the floor of your car.

But don't set them on your front seat as you drive home, or you might hit the brakes too fast and watch them tumble just past your hand and fall all over the passenger side floor, and you might have to stop traffic to run around to the other side of the car and collect them and tell yourself that your passenger side floor was not really too dirty, then by the time you get home realize that eating them would be like licking the soles of the shoes of anyone who rode in your car in the past six months, and so you'd reluctantly have to throw them away. Just sayin'.